By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

6:00 to 9:00 pm Falcon Watch

It was another beautiful day in Rochester, NY with temps close to 80 degrees (F) and overcast.  There were a few sprinkles as I was heading towards downtown but it stopped.  I arrived at the Frontier Communication Tower at about 6:00 pm.  I could find no falcons there, so I checked out the surrounding area.  There was one!  Or at least a tail, because that is all I could see.  It was a juvie on the NW corner of the Launchpad of the Kodak Tower.  You have to follow the falcons, so I headed over to Kodak for a closer look.

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Kathy O was with Dan S on the Broad St Bridge.  Lisa joined me at Kodak and just after she arrived, the juvie took off heading SE.  I was able to follow the path of the juvie’s flight all the way to the other side of the Chase Tower.  Time to move and check out the area the juvie was last seen.  Off we went.

Kathy tweeted that there were two falcons on Midtown Plaza, plus a 3rd.  The juvie’s were on top at the SW corner and the other falcon was definitely an adult.  I parked near the S Clinton/Broad St intersection.  I could see the adult just fine, but only got glimpses of the two juvies on top at the SW corner.  Every now and then a wing would appear.  lol  As you can see in the picture, Midtown Plaza is a literal shell of itself.

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After awhile, Dot.ca joined the two juvies and ate a little bit himself.

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Near Midtown Plaza is my favorite downtown clock tower.  Not sure what building this is on.

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I joined Kathy O and Lisa near the library on Broad St.  The same place we had Watchers Weekend.  All three stopped eating and it was time to fly.  We watched them enter the building and come back out.  There are lots of pigeons there, so chasing them seemed to be the thing to do.  Lots of hunting practice for them.  At one point we saw a bunch of pigeons fly out of Midtown and dive.  We were all viewing them through our binoculars and saw that there was at least on falcon in the center of the panicky pigeons.  The falcons were doing most of their flying down at the east end of Midtown so we decided to head over that way.  Just as we were leaving, Shaky joined us.  We all drove over to Chestnut St and parked in front of Manhattan Square Park.  From there we have a great view of Midtown and the surrounding area.

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Kathy O, Lisa McK, Shaky and I watched from there for awhile.  Dan S passed by on his way home and Larry O tweeted that he was over at the Andrews St Bridge and could see no falcons.

After a long time, Both juvies took off from Midtown and headed NW around the north side of the Chase Tower.  Shaky checked the cameras on his phone and saw that there were two falcons on the Frontier Communication Tower.  That’s where we all headed, except of Lisa who had to leave.  We left Dot.ca on the SE corner of Midtown Plaza.

On the way over, I stopped to confirm Shaky’s sighting of Beauty on the Jail Comm Tower.  She was still there.

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Kathy, Shaky and I met at the Hochstein School of Music Parking lot, where we had a great view of the two juvies there.

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Both were constantly looking north, until they both took off and flew quickly in that direction, towards the Kodak Tower.  That’s where they met a 3rd.  It was too far to see if this was indeed the 3rd juvie, but their behavior was typical juvie meet and greet.  It was time to play and talon tag, until two landed on the cupola and the 3rd flew around to the south side.  We circled the K-Tower but none of us could spot the 3rd falcon.  It was getting dark and really hard to see.  Kathy left and Shaky and I continued to search.

We met on the west side of the K-Tower to get a better look at that side.  Now where did s/he go?  Because they were both looking north, I have to wonder if the 3rd juvie was hanging out in that direction somewhere.  I will be sure to start checking the Kodak Park area, the same place where  Unity, Archer and other Peregrine’s have been seen.  They can easily see the tall stacks of KP from KO and with their speed, it would only take a few minutes.

As darkness descended, I saw one of the two juvies up on the cupola take off and fly over me heading west.  This juvie was on a night hunt, chasing a small sparrow-sized bird over the Kodak Parking Lot, missing by inches!  The juvie pulled up and headed SE.  The hunting juvie landed on the top arm of the Frontier Comm Tower.

When Shaky and I left at 9:00 pm, we could only see one on the Kodak Cupola.  I cannot verify 100% that there were 3 juvies at Kodak, but based on behavior, I do believe there were three.  We know we saw both Beauty and Dot.cat during our Watch.  I think we had the whole family.

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Goodnight everyone!  Tomorrow is another day to get out and see what’s going on with the Rochester Falcons!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

Today started out with mostly clear blue skies calm conditions and a temperature of 56 (F)  13 (C).

Arriving downtown around 5:35am it took me 20 minutes to find my first falcon and it was Beauty near the northeast corner of HSBC.

She was only there a minute or so before she stretched out her gorgeous wings and took flight going north and she was in a blurry  hurry.

It would be a half hour before I would find another falcon. While I was stopped at City Hall I took a look over to Kodak Office (KO) and spotted a PEFA on the launchpad. I drove down to Mill St. and was able to see yellow on the right leg band meaning it was Baron I had found.

He was walking back and forth toward the back of the ledge coming in and out of view at first, but then he parked it on the northeast corner. Suddenly a larger fledgling came flying in that Baron had been watching above him-one of Barons sisters, and she coaxed him off to play with her. They talon tagged around the tower and came squawking over the apartments near where I was parked then went back to KO across the front of the south side.

Baron circled the building and landed briefly on the southeast rocket then resumed the fun and games. They disappeared on the west side where I couldn’t see them.

I checked every side of KO but didn’t see any falcons, after searching downtown and coming up empty I opted for going to Brighton but there were no PEFAs there either. Upon returning to downtown as I was driving toward Frontier Communications Tower (FCT) on Plymouth Ave. I spotted a falcon on the top arm of FCT. As I pulled over on Church St. I had a small window of time to get pics and ID it. I reported Beauty but it was in fact Dot.Ca (DC).

DC returned landing on the 2nd arm west side of FCT and as he did I could hear a juvie whining but I never did find it. DC kept looking down and I don’t know if he was watching a fledgling or a prey bird.

DC stayed with me for about 20 minutes then he stooped down to the north and never came back into view. That would be the last glimpse of a Peregrine for me today.

I searched for the next 20 minutes and came up falconless so I ended my watch at 8:45am. I’m seeing less and less of our fledglings as the days pass and soon they will leave on their life journey. I saw Beauty,DC,Baron and one of the girls on watch to send me on my way smiling even tho I would have liked seeing all 3 juvies. 🙂

Click on the links below to view a couple videos

http://youtu.be/TPYFkjQkc8E
http://youtu.be/BV5wNcoVmPM

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

The weather this afternoon was almost perfect.  Temps in the 70’s (F), blue sky with big, fluffy clouds and just a hint of a breeze.  I arrived downtown just before 4:00 pm and searched downtown Rochester (NY) for our falcon family.  It took me awhile, but I finally found a juvie on top of Xerox on the west side and Beauty on her favorite spot on the south side of Xerox.  I hadn’t seen her on the 4th column in near the SE corner in awhile.

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Beauty left before I could get a picture.  Soon after the juvie took off vocalizing loudly, heading NE.  I drove in that direction, but had no luck finding any falcons.  Back to the Broad St Bridge (BSB), where I found a falcon on the OCSR, 2nd IBeam down, just right of the south corner.  Based on size and coloring, I am almost certain this was Dot.ca.

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This was my view from the center of the Broad St Bridge looking north.

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It wasn’t long before Dot.ca took off.  He headed up, soaring higher and higher, probably in hunt mode.  The sun was too intense for me to watch him for long.  I decided to drive around downtown one more time.  Still no falcons seen.  Next stop the Andrews St Bridge.  From there I could see that there was one, maybe two falcons on top of the shorter FCT.  Kathy O had arrived and she was able to verify that there were two there.  Kathy and I met in the parking lot next to the Hochstein School of Music.  There we found a 3rd Falcon on a small extension jutting out from the center pole of the taller FCT.  These were our three juvies.

I was able to ID, after looking at my pictures, that it was Rosetta on the taller FCT and Voyager & Baron were side by side on top of the shorter FCT.  I do love when we see all three together!

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First Shaky and then Larry O joined us.  Both Voyager and Baron took off and headed south towards the Times Square Bldg.  One returned and landed on the SE corner of the platform below Rosetta.  We found the other juvie on the east side lower ledge of the Widows Walk.  I believe it was Voyager.  She looked like she might have food, but she didn’t stay long.  Voyager returned and did a lot of flying around the area, sometimes heading west. Eventually she returned and landed next to Baron on the SE corner of the platform.  Now all three were close together on the tall FCT.

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Everyone but Shaky left just before 8:00 pm.  He was going to stay another half hour.  So my Watch ended after seeing the whole family.  Seeing the three juvies together, PRICELESS!

This duck family and I say Goodnight Everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

This mornings starting temperature was 59 (F) 15 (C) with mostly cloudy skies and calm conditions.

I spotted a falcon on the top arm of the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT) as soon as I got off the 490 ramp at 5:35am. I drove to Church St. where I spotted another one near the bottom arm on a beam that extends out from that satellite dish.

It was still quite dark out and IDing them was a challenge but I was able to determine that the lower bird was a juvie and the upper bird was Beauty. The juvie flew off to the northeast soon after I arrived and Beauty remained until 6am when 2 juvies flew in from the east. 1 landed on the 2nd arm and the other on the platform railing southeast corner. The 2nd arm fledgling left soon after landing.

A few minutes later I found a 2nd juvie on the platform railing northwest corner of FCT. The 2 of them were watching 3 crows that were hanging out on the lower Frontier roof.

You must click on my pics to see the full version

5 minutes later Baron flew in and coaxed his southeast sister to join him in some talon tag. It was a brief  flight as she returned to her corner. They did some moving around up there and then Baron returned getting both of his sisters to fly with him this time. One of them landed on the northwest corner of the railing and the other 2 flew by trying to knock it off before they both settled on the platform.

As I stopped watching to tweet what I had witnessed all 3 flew off and it would be a long time before I saw any falcons again. I searched downtown for an hour then tried my luck at the Brighton Site and came up empty there as well. After more searching downtown I parked it on the Broad St. Bridge (BSB) for a bit until I got a call from DebbieH saying she had a baby bird (starling) on the ground outside her building not moving much. I drove there and tried to put it in the nook of a tree out of harms way but it came down to the ground so we left it there in the dirt under the trees where it was safe.

Deb and I then went up on the BSB to have a look around to no avail. She went to work and I went to City Hall. I saw Beauty on the south side platform railing of FCT as I pulled over on Fitzhugh St. and after another look she was gone. I found her  at 8:15am on the southeast cube of FCT.

I pulled up in front of City Hall to share space with the Beautyful one as she stayed there for over half an hour. She was keeping track of the crows that the juvies were watching earlier giving me some very cute head poses.

When she did fly off to the south she wasn’t gone long as she returned with cached food and landed on the tower below the southeast cube. Seconds later a fledgling came flying in squawking and landed on top of the small Frontier tower.

<Beauty     Juvie>

<click it

Just before 9am Beauty extracted a pellet and then started to eat her cache as the juvie watched and whined. The juvie moved back where I couldn’t see it from where I was stationed. 10 minutes later after beauty had her share she flew off to the north with her leftovers and returned with a fledgling on her tail. They both landed on the small tower and then hopped over to the top of the satellite dish where I believe Beauty was feeding her offspring and then she just gave it up.

I lost sight of them as they flew off at some point and the next sighting I had was that of Baron with a full crop on the top red beam north side of FCT. Baron then flew over to the small tower across from Beauty who was there unbeknownst to me until now and he started whining-so she flew over to the center of the FCT below the platform.

<Baron<Beauty

<Baron    Beauty>

This is where I left them as I called it a watch at 9:40am. I saw all 3 fledglings and Beauty on my watch sending me home smiling! 🙂

Click the links below to view more pics and videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqiZY

http://youtu.be/7JaVE0WoVJQ
http://youtu.be/m3jDoaW8pqg
http://youtu.be/QNa79GoEo_E

By Rochester Falcon Watch Carol P.

I arrived downtown around 6:15 pm.  Kathy O had already reported that she had seen a lot of flying by all three juvies over Xerox.  When I got there, only 2 were in view on top of Xerox near the NW corner and Dot.ca was on the top IBeam of the OCSR near the south corner.

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First Dot.ca and then one of the juvies on top of Xerox took off.  We didn’t see them leave.  I didn’t have long to watch, so I left Kathy on the Broad St Bridge (BSB) and drove over to the east side of Xerox.  From there, I could see a falcon on the east side of what was left of Midtown Plaza, a shell of it’s former self.  But, the falcons seem to like it!  I parked on the east side near where the old bus terminal used to be located. After parking  my car I was able to get a better look.  There were two falcons up there, Dot.ca and a juvie.  One of the girls.  She was mantling food after grabbing it from DC.  There was a little tug-0-war before DC let her have it.

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While I was watching the two on Midtown, I heard the juvies flying above before I saw them.  They were tearing up the sky between Xerox and the Chase Tower.  Then I saw a third falcon for just a moment, flying near them.  Beauty had joined them and for the first time in awhile, I saw all five at once.  🙂

I didn’t see where Beauty went.  The two talon tagging juvies flew around the north end of the Chase Tower and did not return.  When I looked back up at the two on Midtown, I could only see Dot.ca.  But I knew the juvie with the food was still up there because she continued to vocalize now and then.

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As I was leaving at 7:30 pm, Kathy texted that Shaky had arrived on the Broad St Bridge.  I was sorry I had missed him.

In this last picture, I marked some of the Falcon Hotspots that we have mentioned in recent Watch Reports.  Just to give you and idea of what we are seeing.  This is our view, looking east, from the east end of the Broad St Bridge.  From there you can see the Chase Tower, Midtown Plaza, B&L, and Xerox.

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Goodnight Everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

I’m loving these cooler temperatures as it was 56 (F)  13 (C) when I headed out this morning at 5:30am. It was mostly cloudy with a chilly breeze.

It was 25 minutes into my watch before I saw a falcon. I had been all over downtown looking for them when I stopped on the Court St. Bridge and noticed a fledgling fly in from the northeast and land under the northeast wing of the Times Square building (TSB). I drove down to the hole by He’s Chinese to check it out. As I arrived and took a look I was now seeing 2 juvies up there.

Click on my pics to see full version

Soon after the fledgling on the right flew off and returned shortly after. Seconds after that our 3rd fledgling flew in and landed under the northeast wing with its siblings totally catching me off guard as you can see the pic is totally out of focus.

Just seconds later the juvies  one at a time flew off and started playing talon tag as they circled their birth building-Times Square several times. I lost sight of them  but I did find one on Widows Walk southeast corner of the railing. It didn’t stay there long as its siblings came streaking thru enticing it to join them. They all flew off to the northwest. The Broad St. Bridge (BSB) was my next stop and I found Dan there when I arrived. He had seen an adult on Kodak Office (KO) when he first went on watch. As we watched and waited for some action Dan pointed out a rainbow that had formed in the western sky.

Just the north end of the rainbow was peeking thru an opening in the clouds and the slightest lighting change effected the 2 pics which I thought was kinda cool. We also were being entertained by the many bug catchers flitting and flying in our faces, within reach at times. I’m glad their sonar was working cuz I thought we would be wearing one before they were done!  Larry came by to join us about 6:50am and 5  minutes later I spotted Dot.Ca (DC) on the southwest corner of Xerox.

Dan left as Larry and I witnessed DC fly around to the back of Xerox only to come back in view landing on the northwest corner now.

Click it

DC flew off Xerox again and soared above it briefly before disappearing in the eastern sky. Larry and I drove that way and found DC now perched on the southeast corner of Xerox.

Larry had to get going so after getting a tweet from cam watcher BC (Thank you) saying there was a falcon on the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT) I headed over to City Hall to take a peak. Approaching from Plymouth Ave. I could see a falcon on the south platform railing but when I arrived it was gone. I left to check at our Brighton site (BS) but was disappointed to find nobody home.

Returning to downtown around 8am from the BSB I spotted Beauty on the top ibeam of OCSR near the south corner. Enroute to a closer spot I noticed a juvie on the northwest corner of the Widows Walk railing.

I watched the juvie for a bit then drove over to Main St. by the Radisson Hotel to watch the Beautyful one.

I left her after 20 minutes and while stopped at the traffic light at Main and State St. facing east I noticed the glass on the Crossroads building showing a great reflection of the clouds and Powers building.

I next found a juvie on the FCT top arm-I couldn’t get a positive ID on it but I think it was Baron as when it flew off to the northeast it looked small like a tiercel (male falcon).

I checked from different angles around the tower but never could get a good shot of this young fledgling.  No matter, because I saw all 3 of our youngsters earlier in my watch and I also saw their fabulous falcon parents Beauty and DC. I ended my watch at 9am-not too exciting but a successful watch and I’ll smile about that every time! 🙂

One video link below for you to click and view

http://youtu.be/121T_TFKnNM

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

Here I am in catch-up mode again!  It was a wonderful weekend of Falcon Watching for me and all the other Watchers.  Baron, Rosetta & Voyager are doing great.  We watched all three flying over HSBC, Xerox, Chase Tower and Midtown.  Talon tagging and knocking each other off the buildings.  Baron may have more maneuverability than his sisters, but they are holding their own against his swiftness.  I had to laugh yesterday, when Baron continually attempted to knock his sister off the Chase Tower when she landed on top to take a rest.  He gave up and landed on the next column over from his sister.  Then it was her turn.  She took off and relentlessly attempted to knock Baron off!  Then they were both in the air again!  They are amazing to watch.  Wish you could all be here.

They are also starting to chase other birds, Crows, Gulls, Pigeons, Starlings.  I believe it’s only a matter of time before we see a successful hunt by one of them.

Let’s see if I can remember the names of all the Watchers that came downtown this weekend during my Watches.  Kathy O, Dana, Joyce, Lisa McK, Dan S, Larry O, Lou, Jeanne, Debbie H, Joe B (aka Viper1234) and his family. Hope I didn’t forget anyone.  Also, a big thanks to our on-line Watchers who let us know what’s happening on camera.  Thanks Ei and Donna!

Here are some pictures from the weekend that I took.  To see any of them larger, just click on the picture.  If you hover your cursor over the picture, it will give you a description of what the picture is.  Hope you all enjoy this pictorial report of my weekend watches.  Enjoy!

FRIDAY – 7/26/13

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SATURDAY – 7/27/13

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SUNDAY – 7/28/13

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Goodnight Everyone!

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

The starting temperature today for my fledge watch was 60 (F) 16 (C) with partly cloudy skies and a gentle breeze.

While I was stopped at the off ramp from 490 and Plymouth Ave. I could see 2 falcons on the east side of the platform. When I drove over to the City Hall parking lot one of them had moved over to the north side. It then walked back over by its sibling who looked to be eating something and a blurry flurry ensued. 5 minutes later they both flew off to the south and I quickly lost sight of them.

Make sure to click on my pics for the full version

I left the parking lot and when Widows Walk came into view I spotted 2 juvies on the lower ledge west side.

I went to Broad St. near Fitzhugh St. to park and share space with these 2 fabulous falcons. I didn’t get a chance to ID the other as it flew off after a crow right after I stopped the car. I was able to ID the one on the corner as Baron and at 6:04am he flew off to the south.

<Click it        Baron says hi>

I drove to the Broad St. bridge (BSB) and found a juvie on the northeast corner of the Thomson Reuters building. It flew off to the west out of view. A couple minutes I noticed movement down by the foot of Mercury. It was a Baron trying to get his footing on the wing that is attached to the ankle of Mercury. This is a first for me-these juvies will try perching on anything!

He  soon figured out that it wasn’t a good idea and flew off to Widows Walk landing on the east side railing with his back to me.  I happened to notice the moon above Times Square looking like it was coming out of one of the wings-kinda cool!  5 minutes later Baron flew south out of my view from in the hole next to He’s Chinese.

I couldn’t find any PEFAs so I drove to Brighton to look for Pigott-she wasn’t there so I returned to downtown. As I drove down Exchange Blvd. I spotted a juvie under the northeast wing so I pulled over in front of the Blue Cross Arena. Then I spotted a second pair of wings behind it so there were two up there.

I went back to the hole as Larry tweeted from the BSB with Dan that there was two and one of them flew over to the southeast wing ledge. The juvie under the northeast wing was Voyager and she took it to the back of the ledge out of view.

<SE wing juvie  Voyager>

At 7:30am the southeast wing bird flew south-stooping on something as reported by Larry and 8 minutes later Voyager flew south as well.

Click it to see Voyager

Larry tweeted that there was a juvie on the Thomson Reuters roof and suggested I come up and ID it. It had its back to me so I couldn’t see a leg band but after seeing its malar stripe on my computer I’m convinced it was Baron. I spotted Voyager up on Mercurys head. Another new perch for me to witness a falcon on.

<Voyager   Baron>

At 8am Baron left and so did Larry. Voyager remained on Mercurys head for another half hour before flying west out of my field of vision.

<click it> 

I checked all of downtown but never saw another falcon so I ended my watch at 8:45am. This would be the first watch in a long time that I saw no adults and I don’t believe I saw Rosetta either. That’s ok because Voyager and Baron gave me more than enough reason to smile!

I won’t be doing a morning watch tomorrow (Sunday)

Click on the links below to view a photo album and 3 videos

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaN3DFm0ZMWqiY-

http://youtu.be/Ufy_3ZmSLU4
http://youtu.be/cEGDzbQkFGE
http://youtu.be/tTQGge0J4ZE

By Rochester Falcon Watcher MAK

It was a bit chilly this morning again with bit of a breeze and a starting temperature of 50 (F) 10 (C) but it warmed up quick as the sun shown through.

As I pulled off 490 at 5:30am and took a look at the Frontier Communications Tower (FCT) I could see the shape of a falcon under the platform and when I stopped in the parking lot next to Hochstein Music Academy I spotted another one on the top arm east side but could no longer see the one under the platform. The FCT is a tricky place to look for PEFAs as the slightest angle change can make a bird disappear.

Suddenly 2 flew out from under the platform followed by the one on the arm-so one was hidden from me. They flew west and returned playing talon tag around the FCT being as verbal as ever. One at a time they landed under the platform on crossbeams-2 on the north side and one on the east side at the same level.

You must click on my pics to view the full version

One of the north side juvies flew off up to the small tower and then Dan pulled up next to me.

Click it

I gave him the scoop and said I was going up on the Sister Cities garage and he said he’d join me. He loved the view from up there and shortly after we got up there Dot.Ca (DC) flew over us with a small package heading southeast and landing on the Crossroads building northeast corner where a juvie was waiting for him. DC dropped off the food and left only to be replaced by a juvie who wanted a share of the meal.

Click it

5 minutes later they both flew off heading west-one of them had the food in its talons. One went to the Widows Walk (WW) and landed briefly on the east side railing before flying east out of view. Dan and I couldn’t find any PEFAs so at 6:25am we came down from the garage and went over to the Broad St. Bridge (BSB). We were falconless there as well for the next half hour but there’s always something in the river to keep you occupied. I taped some baby ducklings moving rather fast on land and in the water and saw both the adult and juvie Black-crowned Night Herons.

<adult BCNH  Juvie BCNH>

Dan left at 7am so I took a ride but I didn’t go far as I spotted 2 fledglings on Widows Walk after I turned on Exchange Blvd off of Broad St pulling over in front of the Philipone building. 1 was on the east side railing and the other on the south side.

I couldn’t ID them as they weren’t showing their bling and had their backs facing out so I couldn’t see the front of them either. 10 minutes later the the fledgling that was on the east side flew west only to return landing on the west end of the south railing.

Click it

It left again so I took a spin over to Broad and Fitzhugh for a better view of the remaining juvie. I still couldn’t tell who it was as it flew off heading east right into the sun blinding me long enough to lose sight of it. I went to Brighton around 7:30am to see if Pigott was there but nothing there either. I must say this was the slowest watch I’ve had in a very long time. As I returned to downtown I spotted a juvie on the west corner of the OCSR roof from the hole.

About 20 minutes passed when it started vocalizing and flew off to the north. Next thing I knew Beauty had taken its place on the roof and I could see wings pop up past her so I figure she brought in food and the juvie was eating.

Half hour went by when I decided to drive to the Andrews St. Bridge to see the north side of OCSR. I found Rosetta on the roof at the north corner eating.

That’s all she wrote folks-I ended my watch at 8:45am leaving Rosetta and the Beautyful one on the OCSR roof. I saw all 5 downtown Peregrine Falcons this morning albeit with not much flying observed. No falcon videos today and no photo album but we can still smile knowing they are all doing well! 🙂

Click on the link below to view some very fast baby ducklings

http://youtu.be/hUbLA3UUTDs

By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.

This afternoon was much nicer than it was yesterday, not as cool.  The falcons were very active yesterday, not so much today during my watch.  There was still a lot of flying by the juvies and all the Rochester Falcons were seen, Beauty, Dot.ca, Baron, Rosetta and Voyager.  Oh, and Joyce saw Pigott at the BS location before heading downtown to join me for a falcon watch.

When I first arrived a little before 4:00 pm, I could see a juvie on the 2nd arm down on the Frontier Communication Tower (FCT) and one eating on the platform floor near the NW corner.  Ei, who was keeping an eye on the RFalconcam cameras reported that there was a 2nd falcon on the platform railing on the west side.  I was unable to see the 3rd falcon.  Thanks Ei for letting us know there was a 3rd one up there.

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I parked in the City Hall parking lot and could see two of the three.  Joyce was parked in a nearby alley.  The juvie on the 2nd arm down took off and headed SE passing on the south side of the OCSR.  After the first one left, the other two popped up on the north side of the platform, one on the railing and one on the floor.  The one on the railing hopped and winged his way down the railing.  I could make out the lower juvie following from below.  When the lower one would catch up, the juvie on the railing would turn his head (yes, it was Baron) in all different directions, staring down at his sister.  He finally jumped down to her level and they continued to play.

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Joyce joined me then and let me know that the female that flew towards OCSR was up on top of the elevator shaft.

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Baron then took off heading NW where we lost sight of him.  We couldn’t see the 3rd one on the platform, so we weren’t sure if she was still up there or not.

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Joyce needed to get something to eat, so I headed over to the Broad St Bridge to take a look at the juvie on the elevator shaft.  She was still there, but not for long.  So far, I had not seen an adult.

I decided to get out of my car and check out the river below.  All the usual suspects were there except for one “mystery bird”.  Well, at least to me it was a mystery bird.  A gorgeous little shore bird.  Here are a few pics.  Can you help me ID this little one?

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Joyce joined me on the bridge just as the falcon on top of the OCSR elevator shaft left.  We watched the shore bird for awhile longer before heading back over to the FCT, parking in the City Hall parking Lot.

Two juvies were in sight on the FCT and one took off, heading north.  S/he was on a mission, heading straight towards the Kodak Tower.  We noticed that Beauty was there and the juvie landed next to her on the launch pad.  Beauty had food and the juvie took it to the east side, while Beauty moved over to the SW corner.  That’s how they remained for a long time.  During that time, Dan S joined Joyce and I.

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Dot.ca flew in from the south and landed for a moments on the FCT.  Then he was off, heading back to the south.  We couldn’t see where he went. The juvie on the platform vocalized and took off and followed Dot.ca.  This juvie broke off the chase over the river, just north of OCSR and then started to circle higher and higher, eventually heading NW.

Joyce was able to ID the juvie on the top arm of the FCT as Voyager.  It was time to head home at about 7: 30 pm.  I left Joyce and Dan sitting in their lawn chairs in the City Hall Parking Lot.  On my way home, I stopped by the Kodak Tower for a closer look at Beauty.  The juvie that had been eating was gone!  They are tricky that way!  lol

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I received a text from Falcon Watcher Lynda.  She was wondering if anyone was around.  I told her where to find Joyce and Dan.  She did!  Joyce left a tweet that She and Dan had been joined by Lynda and Grace. It was time for me to head home.  I was very glad to have seen all five this evening and that Pigott had also been seen.  Woohoo!  Goodnight everyone!  Tomorrow is Friday and another weekend of falcon watching is almost upon us.